Anabundance of color.Newvoices.Afeelingthat anything’s possible. Fallmigration isagain transforming Providence. Just as

songbirds head south for thewinter, an influx ofanother species transpires each fall: Students return toschool at the capital city’s five colleges anduniversi-ties, reviving this urban habitatwith their youthfulenergy.About 30,000+ college students help definethe city’s lively atmosphere and vibrant arts and cul-ture scene. The institutions they attenddrive devel-opment of a newKnowledgeDistrictwhere jewelryfactories once thrived. Providence brands itself theCreativeCapital, acknowledging the strong bondbetween the arts, science and entrepreneurship.This city of rare historic architecture has become anexciting destination for contemporary art seekers.

A city focused on its future is fertile groundfor innovation, which can happen only with theremoval of barriers to collaboration. Rhode IslandState Council on the Arts (RISCA), partial fund-ing for which comes from the NEA, acts imagina-tively in collaboration with many others to streng-then art districts generally and art communities indetail. It provides grants and tax incentives toartists and entrepreneurs, initiating public artsprojects statewide, always stimulating innovativeeducational opportunities for diverse participants.

Aphilosophy of innovation is literally built intothe design of Brown University’s Perry and MartyGranoff Center for the Creative Arts. From theoutside, architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s frac-tured design resembles a sideways accordion. Asheer glass wall slices the structure down the mid-dle, offsetting the floors by a half level and visual-ly connecting rooms to one another. Look up and

you may see dancers in a movement studio. Lookdown as students build sound circuits in a medialab. The Granoff’s transparent design encouragesinterdisciplinary collaboration between andamong the arts, sciences, and humanities withfour production studios, a professional recordingstudio, multimedia lab and a physical media lab.Open areas include informal “living rooms” oneach floor to facilitate social exchanges leading tovaluable learning opportunities. Special eventsare scheduled weekly at the Granoff, most opento the public. The building houses the 218-seatMartinos Auditorium and 35mm screening facili-ty. The Cohen Gallery presents multi-departmen-tal exhibitions and shows by visiting artists.

Across town, the Galleries of ProvidenceCollege open the academic year with exhibitions

Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts at Brown University. Photo: Warren Jagger Photography/www.jaggerfoto.com.

S P E C I A L A D V E R T I S I N G S E C T I O N

www.artnightbristolwarren.org

On the last Thursday night of every month from March thru November.

September 27thOctober 25th

November 29th

Explore Open Studios of Rhode Island’s East Bay...

28 ART NEW ENGLAND S e p t e m b e r / O c t o b e r 2 0 1 2

A NEW SERIES OF CONVERSATIONS about contemporary art

and artists in Rhode Island

Watch on WSBE Rhode Island PBSSeptember 5, 12, 19, 26 at 7:00 p.m.

FOCUS ON PROVIDENCE, RIFOCUS ON PROVIDENCE, RI

invoking nature in transformation that featureinvited teaching artists. The Reilly Gallery at theSmith Center for the Arts will open BenAnderson’s show of wood and ceramic installa-tions, Walking Softly, on view through October26. Anderson, of the University of Rhode Island,reincarnates fallen trees found throughout thestate into sculptural elements. Through October19 the Hunt-Cavanagh Gallery mountsArborglyphs, drawings by Deborah Coolidge ofRISD, incorporating her tree bark rubbings.

The Bannister Gallery in Rhode IslandCollege’s Roberts Hall/Nazarian Center for thePerforming Arts complex kicks off each academicyear with its faculty exhibition, opening September6. Named for late nineteenth-century African-American landscape painter Edward Bannister,the gallery presents roughly ten exhibitions annu-ally featuring traditional media and contempo-rary site-specific, electronic, and video projects.

Autumn not only means back to school butalso a landscape in transition. Rhode Island’s

official tree, the red maple, is named after thecolor of power, passion, and energy—all quali-ties to be found in FirstWorks, a high-powered,international series of performing arts programsmeant to advance the cultural, educational andeconomic vitality of the city. The festival collabo-rates closely with the Mayor’s office and numer-ous partnerships across the university, arts andbusiness worlds. This fall a mega-festival takesplace on September 29 from 4–11 p.m. out ofdoors in Kennedy Plaza downtown. It rangesfrom performances by the Oakland, Californiabased Bandaloop dance group, through theSpanish Harlem Orchestra, through Red Baraat,an Indian/Brooklyn brass band, to anIndonesian puppet theatre that will mingle withfestival-goers. Pixilerations, the new mediafringe festival, is an annual multi-venued per-formance and film/video program happeningOctober 11–21. This is a mere sampling ofFirstWorks’s wide programmatic reach.

The Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra

and Music School, led by Larry Rachleff, MusicDirector, and Francisco Noya, ResidentConductor, is entering its impressive 68th seasonin 2012/13. Like other states, a classical series,rush hour series and open rehearsals all areoffered, yet the Philharmonic takes pride inbeing the “only professional orchestra in thecountry to officially designate music educationand performance as equal priorities.” Committedto inclusivity, the organization offers music edu-cation programs and performance opportunitiesto people of all ages, incomes and ability levels.Quality, relevance and accessibility are its tenets.

The nearby city of Pawtucket is home to theSandra Feinstein-Gamm Theater. Known for itscommitment to mounting provocative contem-porary works as well as plays by Shakespeare,the Gamm’s intimate 137-seat theater opens its28th season with two Rhode Island premieres.After the Revolution, Amy Herzog’s family drama,

“Drawings of Old Venice” “Loteria”

Sept. 18 thru Oct.13 Oct. 16 thru Nov. 10Opening Reception

Sept. 20th - 5-9Opening Reception

Oct. 18th - 5-9

Canal’s drawings are inspired by, and consist mostly of interpretations of his great, great, great, great uncle Canaletto’s

oil paintings.

Martin’s paintings are inspired by the traditional images associated with

“Loteria”, a Mexican version of bingo, that

uses pictorial cards vs. letters & numbers.

John Canal

Lydia Martin

(401) 432-7783 chris@chabotgallery.com www.chabotgallery.com

CHABOT FINE ART GALLERY 379 Atwells Avenue, Providence, RI

September 6-26: Annual Faculty ExhibitionReception September 6 from 5 to 8 pm.

October 4–24: d’Ann de SimoneFocus Gallery—Monique Johnson. Reception October 4 from 5 to 8 pm.

For information about exhibition-related programs, visit www.ric.edu/bannister

S P E C I A L A D V E R T I S I N G S E C T I O N

Building leadership, participation, and education in the arts for all Rhode Islanders.

Visit www.arts.ri.gov to learn about opportunities for Rhode Island artists and arts events statewide.

S e p t e m b e r / O c t o b e r ART NEW ENGLAND 29

PROVIDENCE, RIPROVIDENCE, RI

Sat. & Sun., SEPT. 8th & 9th

1 0 a m t o 4 p m

Fine Art & American-made Crafts

SHOW&SALE Armory Arts Center, 172 Exchange Street

Armory Arts Center in downtown Pawtucket, is a beautiful spacious location, and perfect venue to highlight the extraordinary quality of art and craft from artists in our region. Nearby Pawtucket Arts Festival events will include music, demonstrations and many other family events. FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

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begins September 13. It should inspire politi-cal discussions with its story of descendantsof a famously blacklisted victim ofMcCarthyism’s Red Scare struggling with ashocking revelation. Opening November 8 isRed, the 2010 Tony Award Best Play winnerabout abstract expressionist painter MarkRothko, an absolute must-see.

The city of Pawtucket on the BlackstoneRiver is among the region’s most artist-friendlycommunities, its empty textile mills often re-purposed into artist studios and lofts. Studiosin five of these renovated mill buildings in theExchange Street neighborhood open to visitorsSeptember 8 and 9 during the first weekend ofthe 14th Annual Pawtucket Arts Festival.New this year is an arts marketplace, a FineArt and Contemporary Craft Show and Sale inthe renovated Pawtucket Armory Arts Center.The juried show has approximately fifty partic- Art studio at the Providence Art Club. Photo: Warren Jagger Photography/www.jaggerfoto.com.

S P E C I A L A D V E R T I S I N G S E C T I O N

PROVIDENCE, RIPROVIDENCE, RI

Saturday, Oct. 13 andSunday, Oct. 14, 2012

10 am to 4 pmSouthern Rhode Island

Artists in southern Rhode Island are opening their home

studios. Meet them in their environment

while enoying the beauty of autumn.

hoparts.org

A dynamic community arts center inspiring people of

all ages with Performing & Visual Arts,

Events, Classes and Exhibitions!

Jamestown Arts Center

18 Valley St. Jamestown, RI | 401.560.0979 WWW.JAMESTOWNARTCENTER.ORG

THE ONLY LUXURY BOUTIQUE HOTEL IN PROVIDENCE, THE CREATIVE CAPITAL

HOTELPROVIDENCE

139 MATHEWSON STREET

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ipating artists and artisans representing a widevariety of media, from painting through furni-ture and metalwork. The festival runs September7–23, showcasing the visual and performing artsat various venues. Highlights include aSeptember 15 outdoor concert by the RhodeIsland Philharmonic Pops Orchestra at SlaterMemorial Park and the Pawtucket Film Festivalduring the festival’s concluding days.

One of Pawtucket’s largest mill restorationprojects is the Hope Artiste Village, a thrivingcreative community with studios, lofts, retailshops, light industrial workshops, professionaloffice suites, a music venue, theatre and fitnessstudios. Nestled in this light-filled historic spaceyou’ll find the Candita Clayton Gallery, featur-ing works by regional artists and eco-friendlycraftspeople. A solo exhibition by mixed-mediaartist Allison Paschke, whose work in porcelain,cast-resin and layered pigments navigatesbetween two and three dimensions, runsSeptember 14–October 12. Then Philip J. Jamisonhas a show of stunning large-format black-and-white photographs, many depicting natural land-scapes, from October 26–November 23.

Pawtucket is a ten-minute drive from down-town Providence, where the Hotel Providence,whose mission is “individual, intimate andattentive service,” offers elegant décor andaccommodations. On Mathewson Street nearhistoric Grace Church in the city’s thriving artsand entertainment district, each luxury suite inthis boutique hotel suggests a specific literaryimprint, from authors Tolstoy to Alcott. Ask fora tour of the lobby art. The hotel is close to sev-eral of the city’s finest restaurants and a shortwalk to Waterplace Park, where the WaterFirebonfires on the Woonasquatucket River illumi-nate the downtown on select weekend eveningsthrough early October. Indeed, the WaterFireperformance is largely responsible for theProvidence renaissance.

The new darling of Providence’s contemporaryart scene is Yellow Peril Gallery, which attractscollectors internationally with edgy, provocativeexhibitions by emerging and mid-career artists.“Explosive formed sculptures” anyone? Remote-controlled fighting furniture? Find sociallyaware Yellow Peril igniting conversations at ThePlant in a mill complex in the city’s Olneyvillesection. Opening September 13 is a show of newwork by the New York-based, Canadian bornNaomi Campbell whose background in biologyinfluences her mixed-media art.

Those fascinated by the Old World shouldseek out DWRI Letterpress, founded by artistDan Wood, leader of Rhode Island’s letterpress

EVERYTHING YOU COULD EVER WANT & BE, YOU ALREADY HAVE & ARE

COHEN GALLERY

OPENING PERFORMANCE AND RECEPTION:

Gallery Hours:

M-F | 8:30am-11pm

S P E C I A L A D V E R T I S I N G S E C T I O N

S e p t e m b e r / O c t o b e r ART NEW ENGLAND 31

32 ART NEW ENGLAND S e p t e m b e r / O c t o b e r 2 0 1 2

printing resurrection. Tours are available byappointment to see the running Linotype andLudlow machines for casting lead type inWood’s custom letterpress print shop just offBroadway. The shop develops its own designs aswell as those of other graphic designers, expertlycreating printed matter with older technologies.

A mile away on Federal Hill, Chabot FineArt Gallery is eclectic in style yet singularlyfocused on contemporary art. From September18–October 13 it presents highly detailed draw-ings of historic Venice by Toronto-based JohnM. Canal, who took his inspiration from the oilpaintings of the Venetian Republic by hisfamous distant relative Canaletto (GiovanniAntonio Canal). The show celebrates the Italianneighborhood’s heritage in time for ColumbusDay weekend’s colorful street festival.

Said to be the second oldest art club in thecountry is the Providence Art Club, in two his-

toric buildings on hilly Thomas Street, acrossfrom the First Baptist Church of America onProvidence’s east side. Founded in 1880, theclub’s Maxwell Mays and Dodge House gal-leries now present several member and openjuried exhibitions throughout the year, forwhich all artist members are eligible. Amongother events, Fidelity Investments’s annualjuried exhibition is eagerly anticipated.

Climb College Hill to reach the ChazanGallery at the Wheeler School where a kineticsound installation by Ed Osborn opens the newseason September 20 and runs through October10. Osborn’s Standing Wave calls to mind aforest of swaying trees, consisting of sevenmotorized poles, each holding aloft a speakeremitting sustained, complex tones. FromOctober 18–November 7 is the group show,Improbable Places.

Providence sits at the head of NarragansettBay, New England’s largest estuary. Just as anestuary is a transition zone between river and

ocean, art seekers who head south from thecapital city’s urban environment will find amore relaxed pace with fall open studios tourson either side of the bay. The East Bay has ARTNight Bristol and Warren the last Thursday ofthe month from March through November.Free trolley service links nearly twenty galleriesand featured artist studios in both coastaltowns. Opening their studios on September 27are Bristol photographer Stephan Brigidi andWarren mixed-media artist Tom Culora, and onOctober 25, glass artist and sculptor EdMcAloon and ceramic tile artist Pat Warwick.They welcome visitors to their studios in theWarren Cutler Mill complex.

Twenty-two artists will participate in thisyear’s 4th annual West Bay Open StudiosArtists’ Tour, including newest member,painter Luke Randall. Demonstrations includeAlice Benvie Gebhart’s not-to-be-missed glassfusing. A self-guided tour through EastGreenwich, Warwick, and North Kingstown

S P E C I A L A D V E R T I S I N G S E C T I O N

PROVIDENCE, RIPROVIDENCE, RI

Open Daily 9:30am–5pm

on admissionwith this ad.

Valid through5/31/13

Set in the historic NewportCasino, the museum andgrounds are a haven for tennisenthusiasts, history buffs, andlovers of art and architecture.

194 Bellevue Avenue, Newport • tennisfame.com • 849-3990

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The Galleries of the Providence Art Club

11 Thomas Street, Providence, RI 02903401.331.1114 • www.providenceartclub.org

EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTSSeptember 4–September 28Istvan Brinza, Joan DeRugeris and Walter Feldman: Recent WorkGayle Mandle: HyperMarket

September 30–October 19Patricia Allen, Rev. Bill Comeau and Gloria Merchant: People and PlacesWilliam Barnum and Alma Fontana: Beauty by God and Man

Founded in 1880, the Providence Art Club is a picturesque proces-sion of historic houses; home to studios, galleries and a clubhouse. �rough its public programs, its art instruction classes for members and its active exhibition schedule, the Art Club continues a tradition of supporting the visual arts in Providence and beyond.

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Music is forEVERYONE!

Call 401.248.7070 for more information Check out our website: riphil.org

S e p t e m b e r / O c t o b e r ART NEW ENGLAND 33

covering a variety of genres is offered October20 and 21 from 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Printed mapsand brochures are available at all the studiosand through local business sponsors.

Conanicut Island, between NarragansettBay’s East and West passages, is home toJamestown, where a former boat repair shopon Valley Street has been converted into avibrant art showcase. The Jamestown ArtsCenter began in 2010 through the extraordi-nary dedication of this small town’s residents,who embrace the arts and arts education forall. Despite its island location, the JAC drawsartists from around the state and region. TheArt League of Rhode Island selected the centerto host its 12th annual exhibition August31–September 23. The show features the workof fifty or so elected member artists, from newmembers like Providence illustrator HollyGaboriault to veteran Pawtucket watercoloristJoan Boghossian. This is one of the league’stwo major shows a year; the other by associate

members occurs each spring.Newport, home to the lavish Gilded Age

mansions that served as summer resorts for therich and famous, also spawned an outstandingMcKim, Mead & White architected casino thatis now part of the International Tennis Hall ofFame & Museum. American tournament tennisbegan in Newport and its distinctive grasscourts continue actively to serve for play onthe grounds just outside the sports museum.The museum documents the whole history ofthe sport in eighteen galleries, interactively,and through vast collections of memorabilia.The Hall of Fame hosted the first Newport JazzFestival in 1954 and still hosts its opening nightplus many other special events.

The state’s inland southwestern corneroffers more opportunities to see foliage at itsmid-October peak amid the quaint villages inrural Hopkinton and Richmond. The 7th annu-al HopArts Studio Trail takes place October 13and 14 from 10 a.m.–4 p.m.; each day is the

“anti-big” arts festival, drawing visitors off thebeaten path along the river roads and rollinghills of Rhode Island’s old mill towns. Thisyear thirty participating artists and artisansopen their studios to allow visitors to observetheir art making in this tranquil region.

For such a small state, the art-loving visitorwith limited time has some big decisions tomake about what to see and do in RhodeIsland this fall. Fortunately, the brand newPBS/RI television series called Art RhodeIsland can assist. Patron and series producerDr. Joseph A. Chazan sets out to illuminateProvidence’s creative capital and the contem-porary art scene statewide (see FlashPoints, p.6). This series and Art New England hope toguide visiting art audiences in experiencingfurther the smallest state’s considerable charmsand curiosities.

—Janine Weisman

S P E C I A L A D V E R T I S I N G S E C T I O N

waterfire.org | 401-273-1155

Get the full schedule with venues @ first-works.orgNew Media Fringe Festival: October 11-21 in Providence

FirstWorks Festival 2012

Pictured: Miwa Matreyek: Myth & Infrastructure

Oct. 12 & 13, 8pm at Brown University

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PROVIDENCE, RIPROVIDENCE, RI